VISION'S FUGITIVES

This album never had a review, and I've never seen a review for this album anywhere else, so here's my stab at it. Vision's Fugitive's was their only American release, released on the short-lived All Ears label (only four titles exist on this label, as far as I know, Chronicle's Like a Message From the Stars, this one, Far East Family Band's Tenkujin, and Jasun Martz's The Pillory). Unsurprisingly, much the music is not unlike the first half of Boxes Paradise, that is, vocal and guitar oriented with some synths, but nowhere as dominant as on earlier releases like Fragments of Light or Portable Madness. Drummer Keith Edwards seems to be now out of the picture, with Steve Head doing much of the drumming, although Marco Marchovecchio does provide drumming on "Barnhaus Effect No. 2" and "She's Gonna Grow On You". Keith Edwards is credited on the title track, but it was actually a track from Boxes Paradise, and reused on this album (this piece actually being a remake of stuff off Finest Finger, with vocals included). Much of this album is vocal/guitar dominated, with some nice synth work, as demonstrated on "Project Wishing Well", "Barnhaus Effect No. 2", "Fortune Teller", "She's Gonna Grow On You" and "Charlotte's Observer". There are a couple of pieces where Franco Falsini tries something different, like "Fleetwood Trip L-Track" where it consists of looped overlapping guitar, reminding one of Fripp & Eno (which is no surprise, given they had a big impact on Franco Falsini). Or "Chelsea Hotel (Room 625)" which has this sinister feel. It strangely reminds me of the synth intro of Aldo Nova's "Fantasy" (minus the helicopter sound), although that song did not appear until 1982, and I'm sure was more of a coincidence, as Aldo Nova's music was much closer to 1979-era Jefferson Starship ("Fantasy" rips off "Jane"), Loverboy, and other AOR acts of the time, and unlikely he heard of Sensations' Fix. Of course, as on previous Sensations' Fix albums since Finest Finger, you'll hear remakes of previously recorded material. One being the title track, which already appeared on Boxes Paradise, as mentioned earlier. "She's Gonna Grow On You" is a remake of "The Flu" off Boxes Paradise, the vocals are different (although the lyrics are the same), seems deeper, and the beat is different (as it was Marco Marcovecchio drumming here, rather than Keith Edwards as on the original). Plus you get a short snippet of Franco's solo album Cold Nose (Naso Freddo) (1975) at the end of "Fix a Drinking Fountain: Cold Nose Flashback". I noticed how this song reminds me of "Dark Side of Religion" which appeared recently on Music is Painting in the Air 1974-1977 in 2012, but with different lyrics. Similar guitar rhythm. I have seen this album described as having a more "American" sound than before, but it's not like they went all West Coast by trying to sound like The Eagles or Crosby, Stills & Nash, it sounds much like what Sensations' Fix been doing since Finest Finger. Maybe it was "Warped Notions of a Practical Joke", which had a bit of that acoustic blues feel to it that gave it a more "American" feel, but then when the synth solo kicks in, it's more typical Sensations' Fix.

I remembered back in 1998 being told that Vision's Fugitives is not one of their better albums. You know what? I very much find the album enjoyable. Certainly vocals are all over this album, except for a handful of cuts, but I've grown to love Franco Falsini's grasp of the English language (although he's lived in the States on and off since 1969). I have to say that in the 1970s Sensations' Fix was incapable of making a bad album. Sadly Vision's Fugitives can only be found on LP, so you'll end up having to fork the money for a copy (and since the time DJ Shadow started sampling their music, and the "kids" (those, I mean, around the ages 20-40, that is) have now discovered them, the original LPs, which were once fairly inexpensive, have now shot through the roof, this one included). This album certainly grew on me big time after several listens, and it's worth having.